Strauss, Leo

Early years

Leo Strauss was born into a Jewish family in Germany, near Marburg . He studied at the gymnasium at the University of Marburg . During the First World War he served in the German army as a translator in occupied Belgium.

After the war he studied in Marburg, Frankfurt, Berlin, Hamburg; studied philosophy, mathematics, natural sciences. He attended lecture courses by Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger . At the University of Hamburg, received a master’s degree in 1921 and a Ph.D. in 1925 (thesis: “On Epistemology in the Philosophical Doctrine of F. G. Jacobi ”).

In 1925-1932 he worked at the Academy of Jewish Studies in Berlin. A significant influence on Strauss was provided by Karl Schmitt , thanks to whom Strauss in 1932 received a Rockefeller Foundation scholarship ^[3] . After Strauss was in correspondence with him ^[4] .

France

In 1932 he left Germany and left for Paris , where he married Miriam Bernson ( born Miriam Bernsohn ).

UK

In 1934 he went to the UK. In 1935, he worked for some time at Cambridge University .

United States

In 1937 he moved to the United States. From 1938 to 1948 he worked as a lecturer in political science at the New School for Social Research in New York . In 1942, all of his relatives remaining in Germany died in a concentration camp. In 1949-1967 he headed the Department of Political Philosophy at the University of Chicago . In 1968-1969 he was a professor at Claremont Men's College in California ( Eng. Claremont Men's College ), in 1969-1973 - College of St. John in Annapolis ( Maryland ).

Ideas and Theories

• He developed the "theory of natural law" (human freedoms guaranteed by the very fact of birth, and not by belonging to the state or another subset), laid down by Hugo Grotius and John Locke .

Neoconservatism

Leo Strauss is considered the founder of the philosophy of neoconservatism . He formed the philosophical basis of neo-conservatism, based on the classics (most of Socrates , Plato and Aristotle ) and on the criticism of Machiavelli and Heidegger and developing the ideas of his contemporaries Bell , Glazer, Irving Hove and Irving Kristol .

• Yale University professor Stephen Smith ^[5] : “Strauss was not a conservative at all , he was a friend of liberal democracy - one of the best friends she ever had. Moreover, contrary to the claims of his critics, Strauss did not look at politics either from the right or from the left, he looked at it from above. ”

• Alan Bloom
• Paul Eidelberg
• en: Harry V. Jaffa
• Paul Wolfowitz
• Abram Shulsky

Books

• Strauss L. Natural law and history. M., 2007. ISBN 5-902312-94-9
• Strauss L. Introduction to political philosophy. M., 2000. ^[6]
• Strauss L. On tyranny. SPb., 2006.

Articles

• Strauss L. Harassment and the art of writing - Per. from English E. Kuhar // Sociological review T. 11, No. 3, 2012. - S. 12-25 ^[7] .
• Strauss L. German Nihilism - Per. from English A. Mishurin // Political and Philosophical Yearbook No. 6 M.: IF RAS, 2013. - P. 182-205.
• Strauss L. The problem of Socrates - Per. from English A. Mishurin // Historical and Philosophical Yearbook 2013. M.: Canon +, 2014 .-- S. 214-232.
• Strauss L. On the interpretation of the Book of Genesis - Per. from English A. Mishurin // Philosophical Thought 2014. - No. 12. - S. 153-184.
• Strauss L. What is a classical education? Introduction to Political Philosophy - Per. from English M. Fetisova. - M .: Logos, Praxis, 2000. - S. 310-316. ^[eight]

• Strauss Leo - article from the Electronic Jewish Encyclopedia
• Rutkevich A. M. Political philosophy of L. Strauss // Strauss L. On tyranny. - SPb .: Publishing house of SPbSU , 2006.